1. Food. FOOD.

Nothing is better than real, honest to goodness food, especially a home-cooked meal. The college dining hall may have a wide variety, but let’s be honest, quality over quantity, you’d take food from home over it any day.

2. The Sleeping Situation

At home, you have a soft, warm bed that doesn’t creak like the dorm beds, and no roommate to be quiet for at night, or be woken up by in the morning. You can sleep when you want and how you want without judgment or annoyances.

3. Those Awkwardly Sized Breaks

Three-day weekend? Snowstorm* that’ll have school closed for who-knows-how-many days? No problem, you can just roll on home instead of being bored or snowed into your dorm.

*Thanks Blizzard Jonas, I got a 5 day weekend, aka winter break 2.0!

4. The Opportunities!

You have a leg up on everyone because you can keep the same jobs and internships all year round (and apply before the other first years), and you already probably know the best companies and places for jobs.

5. Keeping in Touch with Younger Friends

All your friends still in High School will now have someone to ask their college questions too, and you can come back and visit them all the time, avoiding the awkward *we-were-friends-for-2-years-in-high-school-but-I-only-see-you-twice-a-year-now-because-I-live-in-another-state* experience.

6. Saving Money on Transport

No need to plan expensive plane or train tickets, or carpool Ubers to the airport. You can get home quickly and in under $20 bucks on bus, metro, or car.

7. Spending Time with Family

They may drive you crazy sometime, but value your time with your family, especially your parents. Now is the age that you really start to be grateful for all they did, feeding you, taking care of chores, and providing financial support. You’ll get to attend all your siblings’ important milestones, and tell more of your crazy (but non-questionable) college experiences to your parents face to face.

8. Being in the know.

Your new college friends want to go to the nearest Target? Or what the weather is like in October? No problem, you’re an expert. Not only that, but professors will know what high school you went to, and you’ll know all sorts of events that happen throughout the year in the area.

9. Being in town for ALL your different friend’s breaks.

It’s no secret that different colleges have different academic calendars. But none of that matters to you. When your friend who went across the country has a spring break that’s 2 weeks before yours, you’re still in town to meet up with them on the weekend.

10. It’s an Awesome Way to Transition

You can go home if you need or want anything, but also escape and be independent in the dorms. The best of both worlds (cue Hannah Montana). Yeah, there’ll be haters who tell you not to go home and feel the college experience, but jokes on them. You ARE living real life, and you aren’t stuck in that college bubble.